Hydrophone having no internal leads

ABSTRACT

A hydrophone free from internal leads and further including a stabilizing jacket is described. The hydrophone uses the metallic end caps of the stabilizing jacket to complete the circuit thereby eliminating the need for internal leads. Further, the stabilizing jacket results in a hydrophone configuration that can withstand harsher conditions while nonetheless providing excellent detection capabilities.

The present disclosure describes a new sensor construction and moreparticularly, a hydrophone configuration that, in one embodiment, can beused in logging-while-drilling (LWD) systems.

Many applications exist for hydrophones and other pressure pulsesensors. One common use for hydrophones is in sonar detecting devices,like those that are used to detect submarines. A hydrophone usestransducers to convert a pressure wave (e.g., a sound) to an electricalsignal. Hydrophones now find use in many environments. They arecurrently used, in such diverse areas as the deep ocean to measureseismic activity and in oil wells, to measure fluid characteristics.While the sensors as described will be discussed within the context oftheir use in an oil well, they can be used in any environment where atypical hydrophone would be used and, in some environments that couldnot previously be studied using a traditional hydrophone due to itsfragility.

Unfortunately, conventional hydrophones and other pressure sensors arefragile. They generally do not respond well to low frequency pressurewaves and are sensitive to movement of the tools carrying the sensors.The fragility and tool movement sensitivity problems are undesirable inany environment, but are particularly detrimental in an oil well ordownhole environment where tool movement, shock and vibration,temperature extremes, and erosive mud flow are common. Additionally,where a pressure sensor is used in a downhole signal transmissionsystem, the lack of low frequency response is very undesirable since itis known that pressure pulses are attenuated far less at low frequenciesand, therefore, low frequency signals may be transmitted greaterdistances. Thus, it would be a significant improvement in the art toprovide a pressure sensor that is robust and that is less sensitive toenvironmental fluctuations.

A better understanding of the various disclosed system and methodembodiments can be obtained when the following detailed description isconsidered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a logging-while-drilling environmentaccording to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a logging environment according to anillustrative embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cylindrical hydrophone according to an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cylindrical hydrophone enclosed in a stabilizing jacketaccording to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a cut away view of the hydrophone of FIG. 3 and stabilizingjacket of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are enlarged views of the a electrical connections of thehydrophone of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 illustrates one distribution of openings on the stabilizingcylinder according to one illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 9. illustrates the hydrophone of FIG. 3, as seen looking throughthe stabilizing jacket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of theinvention. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certainfeatures of the embodiments may be shown exaggerated in scale or insomewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements maynot be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. Although one ormore of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosedshould not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope ofthe disclosure, including the claims. It is to be fully recognized thatthe different teachings of the embodiments discussed below may beemployed separately or in any suitable combination to produce desiredresults. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that thefollowing description has broad application, and the discussion of anyembodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and notintended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including theclaims, is limited to that embodiment.

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claimsto refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the artwill appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature orcomponent by different names. This document does not intend todistinguish between components or features that differ in name but notstructure or function.

In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and“comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should beinterpreted to mean “including, but not limited to. The use of “top,”“bottom,” “above,” “below,” and variations of these terms is made forconvenience, but does not require any particular orientation of thecomponents.

The hydrophone discussed herein may be utilized in various contexts todetermine properties in downhole environments. By way of example, it maybe included in a tool to receive signals transmitted as pressure pulsesfrom the surface, it may be used in a sensor to monitor seismic signalsthat create pressure waves in a wellbore, in may be included in a drillstring to monitor dynamic pressure waves during drilling. Theembodiments may be utilized to determine properties inlogging-while-drilling (LWD) environments, wireline, or other loggingenvironments, as well as in marine seismic and sonar environments. Otherapplications, including non-drilling applications are contemplated.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a logging-while-drilling environment100 according to an illustrative embodiment. LWD may also be referred toas measurement-while-drilling (MWD). A drilling platform 5 is equippedwith a derrick 10 that supports a hoist 15. A rig operator drills an oilor gas well for production or exploration using a string of drill pipes20. The hoist 15 suspends a top drive 25 that rotates a drill string 20as it lowers the drill string 20 through the wellhead 30. Connected tothe lower end of the drill string 20 is a drill bit 35. The drill bit 35is rotated and drilling is accomplished by rotating the drill string 20,by use of a downhole motor near the drill bit 35 or the top drive 25, orby both methods.

In one embodiment, recirculation equipment 40 pumps drilling mud orother fluids through a flow line 80 to the derrick 10. The flow line 80goes up the derrick 10 and connects 25 to a swivel 83 on the top drivethrough a stand pipe 81 and a flexible Kelly hose 82 to permit fluid tobe pumped through the top drive 25 and into the drill string 20 below.The fluid is delivered down through the drill string 20 at highpressures and volumes to emerge through nozzles or jets in the drill bit35. The drilling fluid then travels back up the hole via an annulusformed between the exterior of the drill string 20 and a borehole wall50, through a blowout preventer (not illustrated) and a return line 45into a retention pit 55, reservoir, or other enclosed receptacle(s) onthe surface. On the surface, the drilling fluid may be cleaned and thenrecirculated by the recirculation equipment 40. The drilling fluid maybe utilized to carry cuttings from the base of the bore to the surfaceand balance the hydrostatic pressure in the rock formations in the LWDenvironment 100.

A bottom hole assembly 60 (i.e., the lowermost part of drill string 20)may include thick walled tubular elements called drill collars, whichadd weight, stability, and rigidity to aid the drilling process. Thethick walls of these drill collars make them useful for housinginstrumentation, tools, and LWD sensors. For example, in an embodiment,the bottom hole assembly 60, or well tool, of FIG. 1 includes a sensorsystem 65 and a communications and control module 70. The sensor system65 includes one or more hydrophones 72 along with necessary supportcircuitry.

From the various bottom hole assembly 60 sensors, the communications andcontrol module 70 (telemetry module) may collect data regarding theformation properties or various drilling parameters, tool configurationsand readings, and stores the data, for example in internal 30 memory. Inaddition, some or all of the data may be transmitted to the surface bywireline communications, wireless communications, magneticcommunications, seismic communications, or mud telemetry.

The communications signals may be received by a surface receiver 84,converted to an appropriate format, and processed into data by one ormore computing or communications devices such as computer 75. Computer75 may include a processor that executes software which may be stored onportable information storage media 80, such as thumb drives, CDs, DVRsor installed computer memory, such as a hard disk, random access memory,magnetic RAM (MRAM) or other forms of non-volatile memory. The computer75 may also receive user input via an input device 91, such as akeyboard, mouse pointer and mouse buttons, microphone, or other deviceto process and decode the received signals. The resulting sensory andtelemetry data may be further analyzed and processed by computer 75 togenerate a display of useful information on a computer monitor 90 orsome other form of a display device or output, such as a mobile devicelike a hand held smart phone or a tablet PC. For example, a driller mayemploy the system of the LWD environment 100 to obtain and viewinformation about downhole substances.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a logging environment 200 in accordancewith an illustrative embodiment. The logging environment 200 may includeany number of tools, devices, locations, systems, and equipment that maybe utilized to provide the sensor tools, systems, and methods. Thelogging environment 200 may include a reservoir 201. The reservoir 201is a designated area, location, or three-dimensional space that mayinclude natural resources, such as crude oil, natural gas, or otherhydrocarbons. The reservoir 201 may include any number of formations,surface conditions, environments, structures, or compositions. In anembodiment, sensors are utilized to determine properties andmeasurements of the reservoir 201 and a wellbore 203 penetrating thereservoir. For example, one or more hydrophones 72 may be utilized tomeasure properties in reservoir 201 and a wellbore 203 as describedabove with reference to FIG. 1. Processing or computations utilizing themeasured properties may be performed downhole, on-site, off-site, at amovable location, at a headquarters, utilizing fixed computationaldevices, utilizing wireless devices, or over a data network using remotecomputers in real-time or offline processing.

The data and information determined from examination of the wellbore 203may be utilized to perform measurements, analysis, or actions forexploration or production of the reservoir 201. The wellbore 203 may bedrilled and configured with the reservoir 201 to extract wellbore fluidsor gases from the formation. The size, shape, direction, and depth ofthe wellbore 203 may vary based on the conditions and estimated naturalresources available. The wellbore 203 may include any number of supportstructures or materials, divergent paths, surface equipment, or soforth.

The instant disclosure describes a pressure sensor, a hydrophone, foruse in LWD or MWD systems. FIG. 3 illustrates one example of ahydrophone 300 that may be used in a downhole tool. The hydrophone 300is a cylindrical hydrophone and includes a cylindrical base 302. Thebase 302 is plated with an external electrode 304 and an internalelectrode 308. In this embodiment, the plated electrodes leave aninsulation area 310, which in this instance is a gap of unplated basematerial to separate the electrodes 304, 308, which will be explainedmore fully with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The base 302 may be formed of a piezoelectric material. Thepiezoelectric material can be chosen from any art recognizedpiezoelectric materials, natural or man-made. According to oneembodiment, the piezoelectric material is chosen from one or more ofpiezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric polymers, or crystallinematerials, including by not limited to Quartz, PMN-PT crystal, PZN-PTRelaxor-based crystal and the like.

The electrodes 304, 308 may be adhered to the base by any appropriatemethod of manufacture including but limited to plating, includingelectroplating and electroless plating: deposition, including vapordeposition, ion plating, sputtering deposition, laser surface alloyingand chemical vapor deposition; thermal spray coating, includingcombustion torch, electric arc and plasma sprays. As used herein, theapplication of the electrodes 304, 308 to the piezoelectric basematerial 302 will be referred to as metallizing.

The electrodes 304, 308 comprise metallic electrode materials chosenfrom any art recognized electrode materials. According to oneembodiment, the electrode material is chosen from one or more of silver,gold, nickel, cobalt, tin, chromium, vanadium, copper, zinc, and alloysthereof.

FIG. 4 illustrates a stabilizing jacket 400 that surrounds thehydrophone 300 as seen in FIG. 3. The jacket 400 is made from aninsulated shell 410 that surrounds the hydrophone 300. As used herein“insulated shell” refers to the cylinder of insulating material withinwhich the hydrophone rests. As used herein, “stabilizing jacket” refersto the insulating shell 410 in combination with the end caps 402. Theends of the insulated shell 410 are closed with metal end caps 402. Thehydrophone stabilizing jacket 400 can be creating by securing the endcaps 402 to the insulating shell 410. In one embodiment, the end caps402 are attached to the insulating cylinder 410 by providing screwthreads on the insulating cylinder and screwing the end caps on tosecure them.

The insulating shell 410 can be made of any art recognized insulatedmaterial. According to one embodiment, the insulating shell 410 is madeof one or more ceramic materials. The material of the insulating shellneeds to be non-conductive and strong to prevent damage to the encasedhydrophone 300.

The end caps 402 may be made of a conductive material, preferably ametal. According to one embodiment, the end cap material is chosen fromone or more of stainless steel, brass, kovar, silver, gold, nickel,cobalt, tin, chromium, vanadium, copper, zinc and alloys thereof.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway view of the jacketed hydrophone 400 at line 5-5. Ascan be seen in FIG. 5, the hydrophone 300 is placed inside theinsulating shell 410 and when the end caps 402 are secured to the shell410, the circuit is completed and the hydrophone 300 is held stablebetween the end caps 402. No internal leads are necessary and externalleads (not shown) may be attached to one or more end caps 402. Thestabilizing jacket 400 surrounds the hydrophone 300 and reduces thestress on the piezoelectric cylindrical base 302.

As can be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the metallic end cap 402 contacts theelectrodes 304, 308 along the electrode material that is plated on therespective ends of the cylindrical base 302. An insulated region 310separates the end cap 402 from the other electrode, 308 or 304,respectively. As used herein, the terms “insulate,” “insulated,” and“insulating,” refer to a material or lack of material that prevents orreduces the passage, transfer or leakage of heat, electricity, or soundfrom one location to another.

The insulated area 310 can be a gap in the plating material ofelectrodes 304 or 308 which creates an insulated region where only thecylindrical base 302 contacts the metal end caps 402 between theelectrodes. In an alternative embodiment, not shown in the figures, thegap area 310 may comprise an additional insulating material to preventcontact between the electrodes. The additional insulation material maybe chosen from any art recognized insulator. According to oneembodiment, the insulation is chosen from polymeric insulator, sprayfoam, plastic, varnish, paint and the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates the stabilizing jacket 400 comprised of theinsulating shell 410 and the end caps 402. The insulating shell isprovided with openings 415. The openings 415 reduce the impedancethrough the stabilizing jacket allowing the fluid pressure to be feltdirectly by the piezoelectric cylinder 302. The shape and distributionof the openings are based upon a balance between fluid access to thehydrophone and the strength of the insulating shell so that it doesn'tbreak during use. According to one embodiment, the openings account forless than 50% of the surface area of the insulating cylinder, forexample, less than 40% of the surface area, for example, less than 30%of the surface area.

FIG. 9 provides a view of the hydrophone 300 as seen through the shell410. While the hydrophone is described with respect to a cylindricalhydrophone, other non-cylindrical hydrophones can be constructed in thesame manner as described. The hydrophone can be any shape that willallow contact to be established between the electrode material along theedge thereof and an end cap. Alternative shapes include spherical,square, rectangular or any other art recognized shape.

When one or more jacketed hydrophones 400 is included in the bottom holesensory system 65 of the bottom hole assembly 60 of FIG. 1, the sensorsystem 65 can measure changes in fluid pressure which can provideinformation regarding seismic events, drill location, formationmechanical properties, cross-well surveys, sonar, leak detection andflow generated noise detection.

According to one embodiment, the jacketed hydrophone 400 may beelectrically coupled to one or more additional jacketed hydrophones toform an array.

Other embodiments of the present invention can include alternativevariations. These and other variations and modifications will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fullyappreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted toembrace all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hydrophone (300), comprising: a piezoelectric base (302); a first electrode (308) on an outside surface of the base (302) and along a first end of the piezoelectric base (302), a second electrode (304) on an inside surface of the base and along a second end of the base (302); a first insulation area (310) between the first electrode on the outside surface and the second electrode along the second end of the piezoelectric base (302); and a second insulation area (310) between the second electrode on the inside surface and the first electrode along the first end of the piezoelectric base (302).
 2. The hydrophone (300) of claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes (304, 308) are plated onto the surface of the piezoelectric base (302).
 3. The hydrophone (300) of claim 2, wherein the insulation area is created by ending the electrode plating before reaching the second end of the piezoelectric base, thereby leaving a gap.
 4. The hydrophone (300) of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric base (302) is chosen from one or more of a piezoelectric ceramic, a piezoelectric polymer, a piezoelectric crystal material, Quartz, PMN-PT crystal, PZN-PT Relaxor-based crystal.
 5. The hydrophone (300) of claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes (304, 308) are chosen from one or more of silver, gold, nickel, cobalt, tin, chromium, vanadium, copper, zinc or alloys thereof.
 6. The hydrophone (300) of claim 1, wherein the electrodes are spaced apart by insulation areas (310) and further comprise an insulation material in the insulation areas (310).
 7. A hydrophone stabilizing jacket (400) comprising: an insulating shell (410) for surrounding a hydrophone; and metal end caps that contact the hydrophone and close the insulating shell (410) after the hydrophone (300) is placed inside.
 8. The hydrophone stabilizing jacket (400) of claim 7, wherein the end caps (402) are secured to the insulating shell by screw threads.
 9. The hydrophone stabilizing jacket (400) of claim 7, wherein the end cap (402) material is chosen from one or more of stainless steel, brass, kovar, silver, gold, nickel, cobalt, tin, chromium, vanadium, copper, zinc and alloys thereof.
 10. The hydrophone stabilizing jacket of claim 7, wherein insulating shell has one or more openings therein.
 11. A jacketed hydrophone (400) comprising: a piezoelectric cylindrical base (302); a first electrode (308) plated on the outside surface of the cylindrical base (302) and along a first end of the cylindrical base (302); a second electrode (304) plated on the inside surface of the cylindrical base (302) and along a second end of the cylindrical base (302); a first insulation area (310) between the first electrode (308) plating on the outside surface and the second electrode plating along the second end of the cylindrical base; and a second insulation area (310) between the second electrode plating (304) on the inside surface and the first electrode plating along the first end of the cylindrical base; an insulating shell (410) comprising ends and which surrounds the hydrophone (300); and end caps (402) secured at each end of the insulating shell (410).
 12. The jacketed hydrophone (400) of claim 11, wherein the end caps (402) are secured to the insulating shell (410) by screw threads.
 13. The jacketed hydrophone (400) of claim 11, wherein the cylindrical base (302) is a piezoelectric ceramic.
 14. A method of detecting pressure differentials in a fluid comprising, passing a fluid over a hydrophone (300) wherein, the hydrophone (300) is encased in and in direct conductive contact with a stabilizing jacket (400) and thereby requires no internal leads; and passing the fluid through the stabilizing jacket (400) to reach the hydrophone (300).
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the fluid to be detected is in a well bore.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the hydrophone is a plated cylinder contained within a stabilizing jacket.
 17. A system for monitoring the conditions in a downhole environment comprising: a well tool including a sensor system comprising one or more hydrophones, wherein each hydrophone comprises: a piezoelectric cylindrical base (302); a first electrode (308) plated on the outside surface of the cylindrical base (302) and along a first end of the cylindrical base (302); a second electrode (304) plated on the inside surface of the cylindrical base (302) and along a second end of the cylindrical base; a first insulation area (310) exists between the first electrode plating on the outside surface and the second electrode plating along the second end of the cylindrical base (302); and a second insulation area (310) between the second electrode plating on the inside surface and the first electrode plating along the first end of the cylindrical base; an insulating shell (410) comprising ends and which surrounds the hydrophone (300); and end caps (402) secured at each end of the insulating shell (410). 